Ever felt insignificant? It’s great isn’t it! I don’t mean the self centre’d mind that thinks ‘oh poor me nobody listens to what i say, no one cares’(complete with winey voice) I mean the feeling we get when we get ourselves and our lives in perspective compared to everyone and everything else in existence.
The truth is that we are one person out of countless millions and rather than making us feel pointless or unhappy this thought can bring a feeling of liberation. Our self cherishing mind is constantly supersizing our view of ourself and our importance in the world which brings with it the idea that our wishes and feelings are really important and that our problems and sufferings are enormous. When we realise that actually the criticism we have just received or the money we have just lost is no big deal at all in comparison to all that is taking place, we can let go of these trivialities and the suffering they usually cause us. We can let go of our self consciousness, paranoia, and fear of what people think of us.
I think this is why people like standing on the tops of mountains or in wide open spaces, why we love to gaze up at the night sky or stare at the ocean. It makes us feel better because we become tiny and small and we are naturally put into perspective and our ‘self’ temporarily diminishes.
It is however unrealistic to spend our whole life on top of a mountain or gazing at the sky (as well as getting boring after a while!) but we can generate the same feeling within our own mind for example by thinking - ’I am only one, whereas others are countless, so how can I cherish myself alone while I neglect to cherish others. My happiness and suffering are insignificant when compared to the happiness and suffering of all other living beings’ - Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
Go on, indulge yourself, feel insignificant!
